Anyone here taking ONLY Bisoprolol daily for Paroxysmal Afib - it seems great!?

[BigArnie]

Hello, I started on this regime 6 days ago after a bad reaction to a month of daily Flecainide and so far it seems like a wonder drug! No episodes and not even feeling anywhere near one. Prior to the Flecainide debacle I was having around 4-6 episodes per month, so six days without episodes is not unusual, but I don’t think I have felt so darn healthy since I was first diagnosed about 17 months ago. Can I dare to dream that this is “the one”? (Recent reading suggests that Bisoprolol is known to be mildly antiarhythmic as well as it’s usual rate control properties.)

[colourblue]

Pleased to hear the Bisaprolol is helping you, long may it continue. I have been on 1.25mg daily for 18 months, had a good few months without A fib. This last 10 days I have been battling a head cold & it seems to have triggered episodes of AF, but generally I have been fine on this drug. Best wishes.

[BigArnie in reply to colourblue]

Thanks and I do hope you recover soon.

[CDreamer]

Not for me but everyone reacts differently so good luck with it.

[BigArnie in reply to CDreamer]

Thanks CDreamer, I recall from other threads that you have had challenges with it, but as you say, our individual reactions to Afib and the many drug options seem to be endlessly variable! Fingers crossed.

[Hidden]

G'day BigArnie,Bisoprolol is the only one I have been prescribed for heart rate control and over nearly 11 years it has kept my HR consistently at around 63 to 67 bpm. I note some say it has been prescribed for blood pressure control but if that is so I haven't seen evidence of it. I take 5 mg a day taken in the evening around 8 pm along with my other night time meds. My average HR prior to AF was around 88 to mid 90 bpm. When AF mugged me it was clocked at a chaotic 156.

Initially I did have one side effect. My Bisoprolol was originally prescribed to be taken in the morning and I suffered random full flow nose bleeds ..... for no reason. I might be driving or sitting reading when it happened. My GP back in the day then said take it at night and I haven't had a nose bleed since - almost 11 years now.

I also take other meds for blood pressure and of course my very very best buddy ... Warfarin.

There was another side effect ....... every now and then my HR would suddenly drop to around 46 bpm, again when doing nothing, I would have my extremeties go ice cold, fingers, feet and I would feel like at deaths door. However this has gone now and I haven't had this experience for probably a couple of years I guess.

Again, all these are my own experience - others out there may or may not have had the same thing.

Good luck.

John

[BigArnie in reply to Hidden]

Thanks John, a few things to look out for there. I am taking 2.5mg in the morning and no side effects at all so far, but this is only now day 7.

[DevonHubby1]

After 16 months being AF free wife is now working with GP to reduce Bisoprolol dose as HR has dropped to mid 40s and on occasions into the 30s. This has happened over time and while wide has being slowly losing weight.

So, I agree it works, but keep an eye on HR over time.

[BigArnie in reply to DevonHubby1]

Yes I’ll watch for this, thanks. What dosage was she on?

[DevonHubby1 in reply to BigArnie]

On being diagnosed with PAF 2 years ago she was put on 2.5mg. She struggled with this initial dose and GP dropped her to 1.25 within a month. 8 months on she was doing well when she was hospitalized with a fast AF they couldn't revert. After 7 days of playing with dose strengths she self reverted but she left hospital on 3.75 mg which she was on for a further 16 months.

[BigArnie in reply to DevonHubby1]

Thank you and I hope all continues to be positive.

[Hidden]

I have been on it for two year now for the same thing and it works for me feel good

[BigArnie in reply to Hidden]

Excellent!

[Ppiman]

I read somewhere that it was only "mildly antiarrhythmic", too, but when it works, it works well. It stopped my afib last year in its tracks, and has recently helped with tachycardia, too, although it reduces my heart rate in the evenings to rather a low rate (low fifties). I have my suspicion that whether it works depends on what the trigger for the afib is, and if that trigger is tachycardia (or exercise induced tachycardia), then the bisoprolol (or any B-blocker) will do the magic.

Steve

[BigArnie in reply to Ppiman]

Thanks Steve, yes I suspect you are right about matching the drug to the trigger, although I don’t think all the BBs are known antiarrythmics. I’d like to find that article! A shame the triggers and antidotes can’t be more directly diagnosed, but these are complicated bodily functions.

[Ppiman in reply to BigArnie]

I couldn't remember the original source, but this is one I just found: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/186....

Steve

[BigArnie in reply to Ppiman]

Ah yes that is really interesting! Actually I did come across that one previously, but I only skimmed through and didn’t pay enough attention. Many thanks.

[Leechg]

Hi, I have been on 2.5mg bisoprolol only for over 5 years. My heart used to race at 185 beats per minute. Took a couple of weeks to get used to as I felt a bit sort of weak. I have had a few episodes of fast heartbeats. If it doesnt calm within half an hour I was advised i could take another one which i have done. Only had to do that a couple of times. I get odd bursts of strange heartbeats but ignore those. They can last on and off for a few days then disappear for weeks. I do take magnesium. The bisoprolol makes me feel a bit slow for a few hours after I have taken it in the morning. Afternoons are generally fine. Good luck.

[BigArnie in reply to Leechg]

Thank you. I have a review with my cardiologist in a week so will ask him about using an extra dose if I do get an episode. (Currently the PIP plan is Flecainide, but that really doesn’t agree with me)

[Singwell]

I'm good at outwitting my meds if I get stressed -. Bisoprolol worked well for three months, then an extended episode (14 hours) then switched to Flecainide Had one episode during the changeover, then three months, then 2 more about 6 weeks apart. Just over two months now...I much prefer Flecainide as Bisoprolol made me constantly cold, I couldn't climb hills because of aching in my legs and it also messed with my digestion. Happier on Flecainide. It's so individual. Fingers crossed for you.

[BigArnie in reply to Singwell]

Yup, it really is so individual. I am 8 days in on Bisoprolol and still very good. (Although actually perhaps I am getting the cold hands thing...) And Flec was sooo bad for me, although it did at least terminate the many episodes that it seemed to cause! What dosage of B were you on?

[Singwell in reply to BigArnie]

Lowest 2.5mg which is supposedly the lowest effective dose.